6 Old YouTube Trends That Should Return In 2018

There's been a lot of talk lately about a need to return to 'old YouTube'. And while 'old YouTube' probably never left there's no harm in taking heed of the past, before we look for ways to fix the broken-ass present and likely already horrible future.

As someone who has been watching YouTube for a good while (I'm 69 years old), I can remember how things used to be before it became fully corporate and analytics mad. Yes, friends, there was once a time when it was only partially corporate and somewhat analytics mad. Here's some cool things we should bring back:

1. Video tags

Back in the day, tags were the backbone of the YouTube community. It was a great way to encourage creators big and small to collaborate and communicate. It was a way of bridging gaps between people regardless of their audience or location. This has been replaced in recent years but a much more individualistic feeling on the platform. It's less about being a community and more about being a maverick. Perhaps some simple tags could help reset things.

2. Vlogs that aren't four hours long, dammit

Listen, I'm sure you had a great time at the shops. I'm sure the experience of opening your mail this morning was thrilling beyond all belief. But if you're going to title your video 'I GOT PUNCHED IN THE FACE???' then don't make me sit through 15 straight minutes of rambling before you get to the punching story.

3. Smaller creators being featured by the site

Back before the infamous 'trending page', YouTube would feature creators on their home page all the time, regardless of the size of their audience. It was a sweet period of time where it was more about being made than how many viewers got pulled in. It didn't last long.

4. Liking videos because you actually like them

Fandom, or rather, standom, has meant that most metrics that were traditionally used to measure YouTube success are now utterly redundant. Views, likes, sub counts - all have been rendered useless thanks to the obsession of hardcore fan groups, many of whom are egged on by the YouTubers themselves. 'Like before watching' makes no sense, folks.

5. Kids videos that aren't terrifying

It's been pretty hard to ignore the recent trend of utterly terrifying and in some cases insidious 'kids' videos that are plaguing YouTube. These videos get billions - with a 'b' - of views, yet often contain scenes of violence, and sometimes even coded sexual fetishism.

Back in the day it was just Simon's Cat and that was WONDERFULLY HARMLESS.

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